Shannen HeadleyWest Midlands
Family
Suzanne Cherry died four days after she was hit by the van at Aston Wood Golf Club in Staffordshire
A man who drove his van into a woman on a golf course after being pursued by police has been jailed for 13 years and six months.
Suzanne Cherry died in hospital in April, four days after she was hit at Aston Wood Golf Club in Staffordshire.
John McDonald 52, of Booth Street in Bloxwich, West Midlands, admitted causing death by dangerous driving at Worcester Crown Court on Monday.
The 52-year-old along with two other men were involved in a roofing fraud at the time, the court heard, when their van was spotted by police and pursued on to the course where Cherry was playing with her husband.
Co-defendants Johnny McDonald, 23, of Molyneux Road, Dudley, and Brett Delaney, 35, of Michael Road, Darlaston, were also jailed – Johnny McDonald for 32 months, Delaney for 28 months.
All three men pleaded guilty on Monday to a charge each of conspiracy to commit fraud between 17 February and 12 April last year, by making false representations that roofing work was needed when it was not.
All three men had previously denied manslaughter charges last year.
John McDonald’s sentence was reduced from 18 years for his two offences after his guilty pleas were taken into consideration, the court heard.
Cherry’s husband Clint Harrison said on Monday that his wife’s death had left him without a future to look forward to and he only had “an empty present to survive”.
He said his “beautiful wife” had an “amazing and infectious zest for life” before their “future together was snatched away in an instant”.
Staffordshire Police
John McDonald (left), Brett Delnaney (middle) and Johnny McDonald appeared at Worcester Crown Court on Tuesday for sentencing
The court heard on Monday that the trio “were involved in a fraud on elderly householders”, charging “exorbitant amounts” for carrying out bad roof repairs.
On 11 April, a police officer in a marked vehicle saw them “by chance” and began to follow them after one of them turned their head away after noticing her – leading to the police pursuit.
Prosecutor Michael Burrows KC said the van drove off at high speed, on the wrong side of the road and was even used to ram the police car.
John McDonald then drove the van into the golf club and on to the first fairway with police stopping their pursuit when the van came off the road.
Burrows said Cherry was playing golf with her husband and had been looking for a ball near a stream when she was hit by the van.
“[Her husband] shouted to her but there was no time for her to react. The van crashed into her, causing her fatal injuries,” he added.
“The van came to a halt and the three defendants quickly got out and ran off together. Clint Harrison shouted after them: ‘You’ve killed my wife!’.